ADD and Growth spurts

Saturday, March 22nd

Wow, I am totally not consistently in writing this blog...I have plenty of fodder to write about but between the material occurring and me getting to the computer to write about it....well lets just say many things distract me between getting the two together...

Now where to begin...my homemade pickles I wrote about last time! That was my grandmothers recipe and it was a hit. My hubby and mother were both devouring them and even picky Lawyer liked them. (Monkey didn't. I asked her why b/c she loves pickles. She said, "It had the skin on them.."...ok so pickles have the skin on. "Those are not the same mom." Um I give up.)  I have also been tinkering with a the standard guacamole recipe. We have a local restaurant that serves it but it is thin and spicy. I got the spicy kicked up but can't quite figure out what makes it thin. I used cream cheese before and while it tasted great, it was thick. This time I used sour cream and I think I am much closer now but still not there. Either way the mess ups still taste great! Lately, I have also been baking not only bread in my bread machine for my girls, but I finally found a gluten free bread that actually tastes good. The website, which I reference often here, Sarahbakesglutenfree.com is where I found it. I made the Everyday bread recipe and it was good but kids didn't like the chia seeds. I made the honey oatmeal bread and it was awesome. Haven't tried it with kids yet but my guess is they will never know it is GF!

I have begun to struggle again with Monkey. She is getting in that fog again where she may or may not finish her work, forget normal tasks that she knows better than to overlook, and be very whiny. I have about decided she is in the middle of a growth spurt. Both girls did this when they were little and thankfully someone, much wiser than me, told me that if they are fussy and you have changed their diaper, fed them, and made sure nothing is poking them then they are fine and are probably in a growth spurt. And sure enough, those times that they were fussy, for what appeared to be no reason, they would outgrow clothes or get a new habit such as walking. I had not thought much about it as they are older now but this is the only thing I can think of as to why she is being horrible and difficult. We went to eat pizza with some friends last night and she was at full force. She had had two and a third of Oreos at school. She was excited that our friends were there and just loses her head. So instead of sitting at the table like I instructed her, she wanted to get her own plate. And since the cheese pizza wasn't ready she got bread sticks and then proceeded to almost run to the table and of course she whipped her head around to tell me something and the bread-sticks went flying. So she was an emotional wreck in the middle of the busy pizza place and to top it off the teacher we had so much trouble with and did not get along with last year was there eating with her family. I thought of all the times she could act like a raving lunatic and in full blown ADD mode THIS was not it! Thankfully my friend tolerates my nutty loud family but I am wanting to prove that Monkey is controlled her ADD by NOT using meds and then this happens. Murphy's law never gives me a break....

Back to the growth spurt theory...She has just about been eating me out of the house as she has dinner, then her favorite GF sandwich cookies (2), then she comes back and wants "something else". So she eats crackers, or pistachios, or chips, if I am feeling lax, or even dry cereal. I mean every night for about two weeks she would eat 5 or 6 different things! I was worried she was going to pack on some unnecessary weight b/c she was just eating like a teenage boy! Then that last sleet storm hit and she wanted to go play in it. So I drug out our ski clothes from last year and stuffed her in them. I put on the ski pants that were dragging the ground last year and they hit her like capris! It dawned on me a week later that this is why she has been eating so much b/c usually she eats like a bird. And now that I think about her behavior it would explain the emotional outbursts too. I have been steadily giving her Claritin at night with all of the blooming that is beginning to occur outside especially since she likes to run a constant low grade fever. Her lip began to get red again recently and she has this zit that won't go away so I am figuring that she is having a food sensitivity issue which is really tough b/c it is so vague. I just read that you can have a corn sensitivity if you go GF. Monkey is not fully GF but is about 50%. I worry that other items and/or chemicals are bothering her. She has been eating a ton of Cheese Its and I think I need to stop that again. They had cleaned up some of the junk in the ingredients but it was still heavy on preservatives and chemicals. I try not to be such an ogre with their food and allow them some mainstream things but I am almost to the point that I can't with her b/c she is so strangely afflicted with body issues when I do. I worry that she will have an autoimmune effect and I don't want to have to go Paleo on her as it is even more strict and not as tasty.

I have to rethink my cooking again which is tiring but worth the effort. Now that spring is here and the food will change as to what should be available according to the Farmers Almanac we can have different choices and that breaks the monotony of eating "winter" foods. I hope to make homemade ice cream this summer since most of the ones at the store are either not GF or full of dairy that makes Monkey literally go wild and if full of cookies hubby can't eat. So I want to make my own since we live by the pool in the summer. I also want to make more fruit smoothies and enjoy the variety of fruit in the summer.
Right now I have to get thru Spring Break and a week at a cabin with a growing and emotional 8 y/o. She just came in to my office jealous that her sister and dad were snuggling. She can't stand it if her sister gets the snuggles and she weasels in on it. Nothing like telling your child to bug off when she wants to snuggle so you don't jip the other one of that same thing! Oh the irony. So she thankfully came in and just told me she was upset and then crawled under the desk. We talked and I was able to talk some sense into her and she was much happier and then ran off to play. I love that kid but she taxes my brain and heart some days.

Ice drifts and homemade pickles

Monday, March 3rd,

Well, we had up to 3 inches of ice last night. It looked like a winter wonderland except that it was not fluffy but a snow dusting crust of ice that was slicker than snot. Monkey immediately wanted to get out in it and check things out. Thank goodness for ski gear left over from last year. (Although, she won't be wearing the pants much longer! They were more liking capris! Thank goodness for tall snow boots.) She lasted outside about 30 minutes which is not long for her. She had strep last week and I think she either has a cold this week or a bad allergy attack. Her fever was still up after a week on antibiotics and she began to sneeze so we treated her with OTC meds so her stamina is low. We spent the rest of the day, 2 adults, 2 kids, and 2 cats...inside. The adults worked their day jobs b/c, while being able to remote in to a job is wonderful, there are no snow days. The kids read, played, watched movies, then finally broke out the Xbox to play. The cats...slept. I want to trade with the cats....We found out this afternoon that school is out again tomorrow as most of the white stuff didn't fully melt on all roads. In town is ok, but out lying roads are still rough and slick. So we have to get creative again tomorrow to prevent boredom and fights. Fun times.

Poor hubby has been dealing with another kidney stone in the other kidney from the one a few weeks ago. He called for a refill on his meds that dilates his vessels and they never called back and never called it in and here we are in the midst of an ice storm. Of course they were closed today. Hopefully, they will be open tomorrow as thankfully he is not hurting that bad but needs that med or he will be in a world of hurt! And being cooped up with a man in pain is not my idea of fun...nor is it his for that matter!

I have the baking bug again. My waistline suffers a bit when I do.... I bought homemade bread thru our  local farmer network as I go back and forth with buying and baking it. But I did make banana bread to use up the left over bananas. I tried to make some healthy things too though. I had finally found a recipe for marinated cucumbers that I felt might be one I had been looking for. So I made it last week and even the kids liked it. Then I saw a recipe for pickles on FB so I dug up an old recipe for refrigerator pickles from my grandmother that my mom had given me, bought some pickling cucumbers, and made up a batch. The pickles reminded me of the kind my mom used to make, not quite the same as it was not the same recipe but still very similar and very good.  I also attempted to recreate a guacamole dip from a local oriental place (ironic I know) but didn't quite get the same taste. It tasted good, don't get me wrong, but it was not the same as the eatery. I needed to add one more jalapeno because it was not spicy enough and I also needed to make it more liquified but can't figure out what the missing ingredient is. I added cream cheese but theirs is a more lighter color and not so thick. I have got to tinker a bit more on it but pleased that I came close and created something new. That is my goal is to create new recipes but I lack the knowledge and courage most days. I think desperation helps, haha, that and necessity...like back to back snow days...